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Catalogue Reference:CAB/23/51
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Copy No .
C A B I N E T
61 ( 2 5 ) .
Meeting of the Cabinet to he held at 10, Downing S t r e e t
S . v 7 . ( l ) . , on Tuesday, December 22nd, 1925, at 12 noon.
AGENDA.
1.
CASK PIT DELIVERY.
(Reference Cabinet 31 (25) Conclusion l ) .
Report of Committee,
( C P . 506 (25) - already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
2.
ELECTRICAL DEVEL0PTT:?T .
"v.
(Reference Cabinet 27 (25) Conclusion 1 0 ) .
v
Memorandum by the Attorney-General covering
Draft B i l l ,
( C P . 535 (25) - To be c i r c u l a t e d ) .
(Signed)
M .P .A . HAlTKEY,
Secretary, Cabinet.
Ueho.ll Gardens, S.V/.1.
2 1 s t December, 1925.
t
HE IS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRIT AH NIP MAJESTY 3 GOVERNMENT)
1
COPY NO.
C A B I N E T
61(25).
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held in
the Prime M i n i s t e r s Room, House of Commons, S.W. 1. ,
on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22nd, 1925, at 11.30 A.M.
PRESENT: The Right Hon. Stanley Baldwin, M.P.,
(In the C h a i r ) .
Prime M i n i s t e r .
The Right Eon.
Viscount Gave, G.C.M.G.,
Lord Chancellor.
The Most Hon.
The Marquess of Salisbury,
K.G. .G.C.V.O. ,C.B. , Lord.
P r i v y Seal.
I Ike Right Hon.
W.S. Churchill, C.H..M.P.,
Chancellor of the Excheauer.
The Right Hon.
S i r William Joynson-Hicks,
B a r t . , M . P . , Secretary of
State f o r Home A f f a i r s .
T'he Right Hon.
L.S. Amery, M.P., Secretary
of State f o r Dominion A f f a i r s
and Secretary of State f o r the
Colonies.
The Right Hon.
S i r Laming Worthington-Evane,
Bart..G.B.E. .M.P.. Secretary
of State for War.
Fee Right Eon.
Sir Samuel Eoare, B a r t . ,
C.M.G..,M.Pv, Secretary of
State f o r A i r .
The Right Hon.
W.cT Bridgeman, M.P., F i r s t
Lord of the Admiralty.
me Right Hon.
Sir P h i l i p C u n l i f f e - L i s t e r ,
E.B.E. ,11.0. ,M.P., President
of the Board of Trade. -
The Right Hon.
W. Guinness, D.S.O.,M.P.,
M i n i s t e r of Agriculture and
Fisheries.
[She Right Hon.
Sir"John Gilmour, B a r t . , D . S . O . ,
M.P., Secretary f o r Scotland.
The Right Hon.
Lord Eustace Percy, M.P.,
President of the Board of
Education.
pe Right Hon.
Sir Arthur Steel-Malt l a n d , B a r t . ,
M.p. , M i n i s t e r of Labour.
The Right Hon.
Viscount Cecil of Chelwood
Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster.
G,
The Right Hon. S i r Douglas Hogg,
Ji.C. ,M.P. , Attorney-General.
TEE FOLLOWING WERE ALSO PRESENT:
w Right Hon.
Sir William Mitchell-Thomson,
Bt. ,E.B.E. ,M.P., Postmaster General.
(For Item 2 ) .
L t . - C o l . The Sischt Hon.
W i l f r i d Ashley, M.P., M i n i s t e r
of Transport.
(For Item 3 ) .
Sir O.E. Niemeyer, K.C.B.,
Controller of Finance , Treasury.
(For Item 3 ) .
1 a
1.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer informed the
Cabinet that he had undertaken to r e c e i v e a Deputation
i n regard to the proposed Betting Tax that
afternoon.
On reviewing this question he had come to the concluBion that there was at any rate a priroa f a c i e case
f o r a re-examination o f i t s m e r i t s .
At his request
the Cabinet agreed —
That the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
as s is te d by
The F i r s t Lord of the Admiralty,
The Minister of Agriculture and
Fisherie s,
The Minister of Labour,
The Attorney-General,
should enquire i n t o this question
during the Recess. They were asked
to consult the Home Offioe and not to
overlook the p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f the
Totalisator.
2 . The Cabinet had before them a Report of the
Cabinet Committee on the question of Cash on Delivery
(Paper C P , - 5 0 6 (.25)), containing the
following
recommend, ations
(i)
(ii)
(by a majority) That they cannot
recommend the Cabinet to entertain
proposals f o r the establishment of
an A g r i c u l t u r a l cash on d e l i v e r y
servic e .
That, apart fromi the p o l i t i c a l
d i f f i c u l t y , t h e scheme f o r a
general cash on d e l i v e r y s e r v i c e
set out in the Postmaster-General's
Memorandum (Paper C P . - 2 9 1 ( 2 5 ) )
i s open to no o b j e c t i o n and would,
i f adopted, g i v e the maximum degree
of assistance to the a g r i c u l t u r a l
Int e r e s t s .
I n the course of a long discussion on this
question the Cabinet were informed that i f
a system of
cash on d e l i v e r y was adopted there was no i n t e n t i o n of
e s t a b l i s h i n g any general system of motor services
or otherwise supplanting the railways..
The Cabinet agreed,
ty a l a r g e majority
—
( a ) That the proposals for the e s t a b l i s h ­
ment of a cash on d e l i v e r y s e r v i c e
applied to a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e r e s t s only
were not acceptable:
( b ) To approve in p r i n c i p l e the estab­
lishment of a general cash on d e l i v e r y
s e r v i c e as set forth in the Postmaster­
General's Memorandum (paper C P . - 2 9 1 (.25)),
and to authorise the Postmaster-General
to introduce the scheme at such time as
might be agreed on by the Prime Minister
and the Ministers at the head of the
Departments p r i n c i p a l l y concerned.
ELECTRICAL
DEVELOPMENT .
previous
Reference:
Cabinet 27
(25) , Con­
elusion 1 0 . )
3. The Cabinet had. before them a Memorandum by
the Attorney-General (Paper C P . - 5 3 5 ( 2 5 ) )
covering
a draft E i l l worked out in d e t a i l to carry out - the
scheme of e l e c t r i c a l development recommended in the
Weir Report, subject to the modifications
suggested
In the Committee''s Interim Report (Paper C P . - 3 6 2
(25)).
' The Attorney-General made a statement i n regard
to the work of the Committee, in the course of which
he drew attention to the points on which the
B i l l differed
draft
from the recommendations contained i n
the Weir Report.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, while supporting
the E i l l , made i t c l e a r that his assent.was subject to
the understanding
The Cabinet agreed
( a ) To approve the E l e c t r i c i t y (Supply)
B i l l , 1926, as submitted by the
Cabinet Committee (Paper C P , - 5 3 5 (25)),
as the basis of the Government's p o l i c y
on E l e c t r i c a l Development:
(b) That the Minister of Transport should
be authorised, as soon as he deems
appropriate, to communicate w i t h those
i n t e r e s t e d i n the scheme, such as
authorised undertakers, e l e c t r i c a l
'manufacturers, gas undertakings, e t c . ,
and to inform them that the Government
proposes to introduce a P i l l i n this
form, in the coming year^ and to obtain
from them any suggestions which they
may dasire to submit:
( c ) That the Weir Report should not be
put 1 i sh 3d unt i 1 a f t 3 r the a bov e he go t i a ­
-tions have taken place:
(d) To place on record their appreciation
of the work of the Attorney-General
and other members o ' the Committee,
and the Government o f f i c i a l s concerned
in the preparation of this B i l l .
f
4 . The Home Secretary asked the Cabinet to
consider what t h e i r p o l i c y was to be i n regard to
the Factories
Bill.
The- Prime Minister said that when the Cabinet
re-commenced i t s
regular Meetings i t would be necessary
to consider this and other B i l l s in connection with
the King's Speech for the next Session of Parliament.
5.
IRAQ,.
Previous
Referenc-e:
Cabinet 60
( 2 5 ) , Oon­
clusion 2.)
The attention of the Cabinet was drawn to a
recommendation made by the Committee of Imperial
Defence at the 207th Meeting on December 11, 1925:­
"That the Foreign Office should take
immediate steps to v e r i f y the rumours
that the Turks have already v i o l a t e d
the d e m i l i t a r i s a t i o n provisions o f
the S t r a i t s Convention, and that,
i f the rumours are confirmed, the
Secretary of State for Foreign
A f f a i r s should be asked t o make
immediate representations to the
League of Nations, as provided f o r
in A r t i c l e 18 of the S t r a i t s Conven­
tion" .
The question was raised as to whether any
information had been received on this
subject.
The Prime Minister said that he had not
r e c e i v e d any information up to the present, but he
would mention the matter to the Permanent Under
Secretary of State for Foreign A f f a i r s , whom he
expected to see the same afternoon.
The Cabinet were reminded that i f the reports
were confirmed and the urgency was considered
suffici
e n t l y g r e a t , i t would be possible to demand a s p e c i a l
session of the Council of the League of Nations to
deal with the matter.
A t t e n t i o n was also c a l l e d t o recent reports of
Turkish troops proceeding by road towards the region
North of the Iraq
2, Whitehall Gardens, S . " . l ,
r
December 22, 1925.
frontier.